28. Have a green wedding

Ann Elliot Cutting for TIME

You won't be able to stop global warming on your wedding day, but your
choices can lessen the carbon footprint of your event. For example, if
your guests are traveling long distances, offset the carbon emissions
from their trips with a donation to renewableenergy projects. The
sustainablewedding website Portovert.com, in partnership with
NativeEnergy, a renewable energy company, offers a wedding carbon
calculator where couples can enter the number of guests and approximate
miles traveled, to calculate the carbon impact of their weddingrelated
travel.

Wherever you celebrate, you can reduce your CO2 impact and often save
money by giving your wedding a local touch. Buy wine from a nearby
vineyard or beer from a neighborhood brewery. Get your wedding cake from
a local bakery, and use seasonal flowers, not imports. "Why eat food or
drink wine or beer that has traveled thousands of miles when you can
choose local options that are just as good?" says Meghan Meyers, CEO of
portovert.com.

Anything you do to make your wedding a little more modestfrom wearing a
borrowed wedding dress to choosing recycled paper or a website for your
invitationswill lower its contribution to carbon emissions. Consider it
your wedding gift to the planet.

This is an extended version of the article that originally appeared in TIME Magazine.